The Women's Point of View
by Ronnie K
Summary: What do the women in Tatsuya's life think? Just wondering what's going through their minds. Starts with a couple of one-shots, followed by a six part arc. All chapters now posted.
1. Honoka

Honoka lay on her bed, going over the events of the day as she tried desperately to get some sleep. The biggest and most exciting event of the day (and possibly the entire competition) had been the Mirage Bat event. Closing her eyes, she replayed those memories again.

* * *

She's flying. Miyuki was really flying. The moment they realized that she was flying and not merely leaping like the rest of the competitors, the crowd was stunned into silence. Now half the crowd was chattering amongst themselves in disbelief, while the rest, like Honoka, simply stared at the amazing sight above them with jaws agape.

The official name of the event was Mirage Bat, but unofficially it was called the fairy dance. The competitors dressed themselves very much like faeries, complete with wings. It was as much a fashion show as Ice Pillar Break was. And no one looked more like a fairy at that moment than Shiba Miyuki. As she flew across the sky in her perfect fairy costume, the fake wings at her back fluttered as if they were real wings. Graceful. Elegant. Just like Miyuki herself.

Taurus Silver's breakthrough in flying magic had just been announced last month, but already Miyuki was using it. Without a doubt, the CAD that she was using was provided by Tatsuya-kun. How he had acquired it, Honoka didn't know, but it looked as if he had pulled off yet another miracle for First High in this Nine Schools Competition. Honoka had no words to describe how amazing her Tatsuya-kun was.

"Her Tatsuya-kun" huh? Her face went scarlet as she realized what she had just thought. She got even redder when she realized just how fervently she wished that were true. She was relieved that with the amazing sight in the sky above them nobody would notice her embarrassment.

As she watched, a pang in her chest reminded Honoka that what she felt for Miyuki wasn't merely admiration, but a little bit of jealousy too.

The Shiba siblings were close enough to each other to border on intimate. They were certainly not the normal siblings that one usually came across. It was obvious to anyone that Miyuki adored her older brother. Her oniisan. She guarded his time and attention at all times and woe to the woman who tried to get closer to her oniisan than she felt was appropriate. She acted very much like a jealous lover. Very few females were allowed to get overly close to her beloved brother. To Honoka's relief, she was one of those females.

For his part, Tatsuya-kun doted on his little sister as many older brothers do, but from time to time, he would say something that would shock everyone. Like the time he said that if he wasn't her brother that he would consider having Miyuki as a lover. He said this at a student council meeting when Miyuki was being interviewed for a position within the council. Honoka hadn't been there herself, of course, but she had heard the story from someone who had been. The way it was told to Honoka, the student council had almost fallen out of their chairs at this declaration before Tatsuya-kun told them it was just a joke. None of them were really sure it had been a joke and the way that Miyuki had blushed left no doubt about her feelings on the matter.

At times this closeness was uncomfortable even for their friends, who were obviously quite used to their behavior by now. They were used to Miyuki's open adoration of her brother and they were almost used to Tatsuya-kun's ocassional _jokes_ about the subject, yet it was still a source of awkwardness for their circle of friends. No one wanted to say "incestuous", but that idea was never far from their minds.

While this was a minor issue in their circle of friend, it was a huge problem for Honoka. Her feelings for him had continued to grow since she had first met him during new student evaluations until she finally realized not long ago that she was in love with him. He was handsome, strong and dependable and she was completely smitten with her first love. The only person she ever dared share this revelation to was her best friend Shizuku. It was Shizuku that boosted her confidence in her feelings for Tatsuya-kun and encouraged her to "go for it". And it was Shizuku who pushed Honoka (sometimes literally) into interactions with Tatsuya-kun that she was too shy to initiate on her own.

She remembered vividly every moment she ever spent with him. Those moments were ingrained in her heart and her mind as treasures, no matter how trivial their interactions might have been. There were two times in particular she would never ever forget.

The first had been during her Battle Board competition. Tatsuya-kun hadn't been able to do her CAD maintenance because he had to look after other competitors, but he had promised to watch her race. Not only did he watch her race, he had come up with the strategy that allowed her to win.

Before this competition started, she didn't really give herself much of a chance to do well. She had always believed that she crumpled under pressure and just couldn't do well in competitions. In short, she would choke. This habit began in middle school competitions and she was afraid it would carry over into high school too.

But Tatsuya-kun changed that for her. He had helped her devise a strategy to use her optical magic to 'flash' the water at the start of the first race, blinding the other competitors while she raced ahead to an insurmountable lead. But more than that, he gave her confidence that she could win. Already knowing that she was in love with him, she drank in every word. All his words of encouragement she took to heart. And that belief translated itself into the biggest triumph of her life to that point. Because he believed in her, she could believe in herself.

The other unforgettable time was more painful. She had been watching Tatsuya-kun compete in the finals of the Monolith Code competiton along with their friends Mikihiko-kun and Leo-kun. Her extreme nervousness resulted in her unable to sit down at the start of the match. Shizuku tried in vain to get her to relax and sit down. It was all she could do to keep herself from pacing in the stands.

Tatsuya-kun had been dragged into this competition at the last minute by the student council after an _accident_ had happend to the original team during a previous match, leaving them hospitalized and unable to compete. A special exemption had been granted to First High to replace them and Tatsuya-kun was chosen to gather a team to replace them for a match the following day. To the student council's chagrin, he had chosen Leo-kun and Mikihiko-kun as his teammates instead of some who were thought to be more powerful and skilled students.

They had unexpectedly won their way into the finals against Third High. It was unexpected to many, but not to the first year women's team. As their engineer, he had guided them to miraculous triumphs, using his technical skills to make the women's team compete at their very best. As far as they were concerned, there was nothing that Tatsuya-kun couldn't accomplish. Their faith and confidence in him was absolute and unwavering.

Honoka shared this opinion whole-heartedly which was why she and her classmates had been shocked when Third High's ace Ichijou Masaki, also known as the Crimson Prince, used an illegal attack on Tatsuya-kun during the final. An attack that everyone watching was sure had critically injured or possibly killed him. Honoka could not forget the pain she experienced as she watched her beloved's body flying through the air. Every time she remembered that, the memories were replayed in slow motion and the pain in her heart was as sharp as a knife. The grief she felt in that sliver of time had been unbearable.

Like everyone else, she had been equally shocked when Tatsuya-kun recovered himself and dispatched an incredulous Masaki-san, paving the way for First High's triumph in Monolith Code. Unlike everyone else, the relief that he was okay had been almost as sharp as Honoka's grief from a moment before. This see-sawing of emotions made her collapse onto her seat and left her sobbing uncontrollably while Shizuku held her and stroked her in sympathy.

Laying on her bed that night, she thought about these things and it confirmed for her what she already knew about her feelings for Tatsuya-kun. She also realized that there were few things in life she wanted more than to have Tatsuya-kun love her in return. She had no idea what he thought about her. And on top of that, she had to compete with his sister!

That couldn't be right. As siblings, they couldn't have that kind of relationship, could they? No matter how much they teased their friends with their ocassional flirtations, at the end of the day they were still brother and sister and that sort of illicit relationship wasn't merely frowned upon, it was illegal. She couldn't let those thoughts distract her from her goal of getting closer to Tatsuya-kun. How was she to do that?

Then she remembered. There was a party scheduled for night after the competition was officially over. Participants from all the schools would be there to mingle and celebrate with food and dancing. Girls and boys would get a chance to meet and speak with their contemporaries from the other schools. Many friendships had their beginnings at these get-togethers. Many a romance had begun with a dance at one of these events. Even some marriages started with two people meeting and dancing at these parties.

* * *

No matter what, Honoka was determined to get a chance to dance with her Tatsuya-kun. With that happy thought, she could finally drift off to sleep.


	2. Azusa

Azusa

The bus began to move and they were finally on their way home. For many of the students from First High this was when it hit home that the Nine Schools Competition was really and truly over. They were on their way back to their normal lives.

Azusa wondered whether any magician, or magical engineer for that matter, really had a _normal_ life. The life of a magician and those the engineers and technicians who supported them was different and apart from the general population. The public knew about magic and magicians but rarely saw them in public. They mostly heard about them from the news or from accounts of battle where mages did powerful and devastating things. They seemed to be awe inspiring weapons that were apart from the people. Different. Inscrutable. Maybe not even human. And people tended to hate and fear what they couldn't understand.

Part of the reason for the NSC was to let the public take a peek into the world of magicians and alleviate some of that fear. The events were televised across the entire country as a series of sporting events and people loved sports. They picked a "team" and rooted for them...or against them. Who could be afraid of their favorite team? It also exposed the public to magic in a very limited way so that it wasn't completely foreign and it gave them the feeling that the students were one of them and not some "other".

The public got to see these magic students as people and not just some branch of the military. These competitors did their best to win, were bowed and frustrated when they lost and raised their arms in joy when they won. They did amazing things on the field of play, but they made mistakes too. They were people, just like everyone else. The competition served other purposes, of course, but in Azusa's mind, this was the most important.

They certainly got a show this year, she thought, as she curled herself into a ball, closed her eyes and feigned sleep. She was taking up the whole seat, but she didn't care. One of the few benefits of being such a tiny person was being able to lounge comfortably on a bus bench. Mayumi-san and Mari-san sat across from her having an animated discussion. Thankfully, they toned it down when they saw Azusa was trying to sleep.

It was a little rude of her to ignore her friends like this, but Azusa needed some time to process everything that had happened. The past week and a half had been crazy and hectic for her as a magic tech. She had been dealing with people while trying to tune competitors' CADs and running around from event to event, so by the time she managed to get to her room in the evenings she would be mentally and physically exhausted and could only sleep. Now that it was all over it was time to try to absorb all the things she had learned over the past few days and try to make sense of it all.

* * *

She guessed it really all started with the Student Council. At First High, almost everything did. Or seemed to. This was Azusa's second year, both in high school and in Student Council where she served primarily as secretary. Mayumi-san, who was now a third year student and Council President, had asked the shy and quiet Azusa to join the Council just after student orientation. The request had shocked the little freshman and left her speechless. Saegusa Mayumi-san, one of the heirs to the Saegusa family of the Ten Master Clans was asking her, Nakajo Azusa, to be on the Student Council? This must be some sort of dream-or nightmare. Mayumi-san, seeing her discomfort, attempted to explain.

"I've seen your test scores. You magic abilities are good, but your technical knowledge scores are second to none! The Council would really like to bring you on board so that we can get a point of view from the engineering side of things and I believe that you would be perfect for the job. What do you think?"

All of this was delivered with a dazzling smile, which Azusa would learn later, was a weapon all by itself. A weapon that the President used quite often to get her way. But right now that smile was a ray of sunlight bursting through the clouds of a lonely freshman's existence.

Being obsessively drawn to magic technology from an early age, Azusa had been a loner. She was always busy learning some new tech if she wasn't taking apart some old piece of hardware or software to see how it worked. She was an otaku when it came to these sorts of things so she never gave much thought to friends, relationships, or even just interacting with others. She was very much her father's daughter in that respect.

Also very much like her father, her hero was Taurus Silver, the mysterious genius level engineer who worked for Four Leaves Technologies. FLT was one of the cutting edge engineering firms in the country and Silver-sama was the most prominent of their cadre of great programmers and engineers. Anyone who was involved with magic knew who Taurus Silver was.

Of his many accomplishments was the Loop Cast System, which allowed magicians to repeatedly invoke the same magic sequence without restarting the activation sequence. It greatly increased the efficiency of repetetive tasks, allowing users to quickly work the same spell over and over while conserving their energy. His mastery over both hardware and software was unparalleled! He pioneered many other software and hardware related breatkthroughs while still managing to remain incognito. Taurus Silver wasn't his real name and the public didn't even know what he looked like. Azusa always pictured him as a blonde, handsome young man in his twenties. Just thinking about him got her excited enough to bring on her asthma and she had to slow herself down and remember to breathe. While she never thought much about boys in the romantic sense, she did have dreams of meeting Silver-sama and maybe even-well, that wasn't important. He was her hero and she spent a lot of idle moments wondering just who he could be.

The subject at hand, though, was the fact that she was just a bit succeptible to kind words from people she wasn't familiar with. Especially when those people were her social superiors.

Hearing Mayumi-san's flattering words and seeing that kind smile directed at her had a magic all it's own and she found herself nodding and accepting the offer from this beautiful and awe-inspiring person.

"Great! Please be at the Council meeting room tomorrow after school. We look forward to welcoming you there, A-chan." With a wink and a smile, the President departed like a soft summer breeze that left Azusa staring with a confused expression on her face. "A-chan?", she murmured.

That first year went by surprisingly smooth for her. She learned to balance her Council duties with her insatiable desire to learn new technology. In the process, she developed a reputation within the Council and throughout the school as a dependable and almost genius level engineer. The only bad thing she encountered was the President insisting on calling her A-chan. The way Mayumi-san said it came off somewhere between affection and teasing. It was never said as an insult, but still it was embarrassing. Azusa didn't mind so much when they were alone or even in front of the other Council officers, but Mayumi-san insisted on introducting her to others that way too. She always protested it, but it never did any good. Mayumi-san had nicknames for some of the other officers too, but that didn't make Azusa feel any better. Fortunately, no one else tried to call her that childish name.

It was in her second year that things got interesting. Soon after the entrance tests for new students were completed, Azusa learned that not one, but two people had beaten her magic theory test scores from last year. And by more than a couple of points too. Not only that, but they were brother and sister! Shiba Tatsuya and Shiba Miyuki.

Rumors were already circulating about these two and their "special relationship" with one another. How they went beyond just a bit beyond the bounds of sibling affection. The fact that they lived together without any adult supervision just made all the rumors juicier. The few stories repeated in her presence made her squirm uncomfortably.

Curiosity aroused from their test results, she told herself that she would have to meet this interesting pair, but with her duties and her "hobbies" she never found the time. Soon enough, however, the time found her.

A special Council meeting had been called. Not that unusual, considering that it was the beginning of the new school year and vacancies in the Council and other school bodies had to be filled. Evidently, Mayumi-san had a candidate in mind and wanted to introduce that person to the rest of the officers. That was a formality, really, since as Council President, Mayumi-san had the power to appoint whomever she wanted. Well, anyone from the Course 1 curriculum, anyway.

It certainly was a special meeting, since Watanabe Mari was present. As Public Morals Committee head, she wielded as much power as Mayumi-san. The PMC functioned as the police force on campus. They made sure that students didn't abuse magic on school grounds and had the power to apprehend any violators. Mari-san and Mayumi-san complimented each other nicely in their respective roles and were personal friends as well.

Azusa wasn't informed about the candidates until she arrived in the Council chambers. She thought it was odd that they hadn't told her before since the person being invited was to assist Azusa in her secretarial duties to begin with and the new person would be under her charge while she became accustomed to working with the rest of the officers.

Listening to Mayumi-san and Mari-san chat before the start of the meeting, Azusa learned that the nominee was to be Shiba Miyuki. Well, she would finally get to meet this new prodigy. Too bad she couldn't meet the brother too.

"Mayumi, why did you invite the brother too?"

"If you had seen them interact for any length of time, Mari, you would know that Miyuki-san would never accept this position without Tatsuya-kun's consent. By inviting him we can get our answer immediately." The look in the President's eyes said there was more to it than that, but no one asked what that something else could be.

Well, it seemed that she would get to meet the brother after all. This should be interesting. And it was. The first thing she noticed was that while the sister had the eight pedaled bloom insignia on the breast of her jacket, the brother did not. He was a Course 2 student. With his test scores, how could that be? Looking into it later, she discovered that while his results in magic theory were extraordinary, his practical skills test scores were so low that he was lucky to have been accepted into school at all. While it was normal for students to be more proficient in either practical skills or theory, it was quite odd to see such a wide gap in those skills. It was the first of many interesting things she would soon learn about Tatsuya-kun.

Oh, and those rumors? A bit exaggerated, but only a bit. For the most part, they acted as normal siblings. It was quickly evident that Miyuki-san practically worshipped her older brother to the point of embarrassment. For his part Tatsuya-kun acted like a normal aloof older brother, though he sometimes uttered something completely outrageous. Like he would have Miyuki-san as his lover if she wasn't his sister. Azusa had almost fainted from mortification. Even Tatsuya assuring them it was a joke didn't alleviate all the awkwardness such a declaration caused. Needless to say, the subject was changed immediately. There were other interactions like that that Azusa witnessed, but she tried very hard to forget them.

The result of the meeting was that Miyuki-san became a council member, which was no surprise. What was unexpected was that Mari-san accepted the reluctant brother Tatsuya-kun into the Public Morals Committee. Shiba Tatsuya. A weed.

First High divided their students into two Courses. First, there were the Course 1 students, casually known as 'Blooms'. These were the students with high magical talent as shown by their practical test results. Practical magic scores always trumped magic theory scores at First High. These students had actual teachers in their rooms and not computer instructors.

Miyuki-san was also a Bloom. She was one of the strongest magic users that Azusa had ever seen and her test scores reflected that. Her scores in practical application of magic were as good as her brother's were bad. She also had the bearings and manners of an aristocrat without the arrogance. In short, she was a lady through and through. Her personality was just as beautiful as her appearance. Except, of course, for that brother-complex thing.

Tatsuya-kun belonged to that other class of students. Course 2 students, or Weeds. Azusa hated that term. They were all students at the same school and just like any normal school, some people excelled more than others while some were not quite as gifted. It didn't mean they were any more or less than anyone else. Even though school rules forbade the use of it, "Weed" was still commonly used as a disparaging term towards those who were seen as magically inferior to Blooms. Fortunately, most of the Student Council felt as Azusa did, which was part of the reason why Tatsuya was brought on board.

Over time she began to hear stories about Tatsuya-kun's combat prowess. She even witnessed it herself at the NSC and with his mock battle with Hattori-san.

Not surprisingly, what Azusa remembered from that fight with Hattori-san (the actual battle itself only lasted 5 seconds or so) was that Tatsuya-kun used a Silver Horn CAD. A FLT product, it was made to maximize the Loop Cast System developed by Silver-sama. It wasn't just a CAD to her, it was a work of art! After Tatsuya-kun was declared the winner, she got so excited seeing it that she lost all sense of decorum in her frantic attempts to climb Tatsuya-kun so she could at least touch it once. Mayumi-san had to practically pry her off of poor Tatsuya-kun. Immediately after, she would be mortified by her actions, but at that moment she just couldn't control herself. She felt devastated when he put the CAD back in it's case and locked it. After her embarrassing display she didn't have the courage to simply ask him if she could hold it.

It was apparent to everyone by the end of the games that the tests for practical magic did not test everyone's capabilities completely. With her own eyes, Azusa saw him do amazing things in combat situations, but those skills were nothing compared to his engineering skills. At least that was true in Azusa's mind.

Her first real glimpse into his skills was when he, a Course 2 student, was chosen as an engineer for the NSC by the Student Council. Some of the Course 1 students objected, so Tatsuya-kun was asked to display his skill level by adjusting another student's CAD while everyone watched. It was crucial that competitors be able to trust their engineers. If a CAD maintenance was done badly enough it was quite possible that the device could harm the magician trying to use it. CAD maintenance was considered one of the lower skill levels in engineering, but would be the most common task at the competition.

Azusa was confident that Tatsuya-kun was at least moderately skilled. She had heard him from time to time comfortably conversing about very high level engineering concepts, some of which even Azusa wasn't terribly familiar with. She also knew that Tatsuya-kun was responsible for Miyuki-san's CAD maintenance. He was the only person Miyuki-san trusted with her CAD. This was why it was Azusa who first proposed that Tatsuya-kun be invited as an engineer. A first year student had never served as a competition engineer before, not to mention a first year Course 2 student. But, as Mayumi-san said at the time, 'There has to be a first time for everything!'

Just before this testing, she finally got to touch the Silver Horn. Azusa noticed one day in the Council room that Tatsuya-kun had gotten a new holster for it. Even the holster was a beautiful piece and Azusa couldn't help but ask if she could examine it. He allowed her to and she meticulously went over every detail. She already knew she was a device-otaku, and she was okay with that, but over a holster? Seriously? Well, she did get to look at the CAD while she was at it. And she didn't drool or anything so it was okay, right?

The test of Tatsuya-san's skills was in the Club Management Headquarters. The room was full of candidates for the competition, both contestants and engineers. Many of them, Azusa could see, wanted the 'Weed' to fail. Slots in the competiton were prized and many resented the fact that a Course 2 student would be chosen.

It was decided that the guinea pig for this test was to be Kirihara-san. He had volunteered and the fact of his dislike of Tatsuya-kun was well known. He would certainly not give a favorable verdict through any sense of loyalty to Tatsuya-kun. The test itself was fairly simple. He was asked to copy Kirihara-san's CAD schematics onto the competition-use CAD, making any necessary adjustments without changing the Activation Sequence.

What he managed to do with that display of skills was pretty impressive. He copied a student's information from his personal CAD onto the competition CAD, but he did it all manually. And he did it in the safest possible manner. Most technicians relied on the maintenance software and it's graphs in order to do their tuning. To Azusa's amazement, Tatsuya-kun was reading the datastreams as they flew across the screen to do his tuning. She had to admit that even she couldn't do that. That level of skill was beyond a mere highschool student, even if most of the people in the room couldn't understand exactly what happened in front of their eyes. Many of the technical team that were present understood, but not many others. Tatsuya-kun _had_ to be on the technical team at all costs, Azusa decided. No doubt about it. Kirihara-san's judgement that the competition-CAD felt just as good as his personal one was amazing considering that the competition-CAD's specs were much lower than his personal CAD's.

When the inevitable negative comments were made about his skills, it was the quiet and shy Azusa who spoke up and tried to explain to everyone why Tatsuya-kun just had to be on the team. Fortunately, she was backed up by Club Leader Juumonji Katsuto, who had the respect of everyone there. The real surprise was that Hattori-san, who had been humiliated in his loss to Tatsuya-kun in their duel, also spoke in favor of his membership on the team. Thus it was decided.

Over the course of the 9 days of competition, Azusa heard about, or witnessed with her own eyes, the genius of Tatsuya-kun. His strategies for those under his charge made contenders into champions. First High took first place under all events that Tatsuya-kun had competitors in. In two events Tatsuya-kun's women swept first, second and third places. An astouding feat that had never happened before.

Unfortunately, his charges were only the first year women. The upper class men and women still resented him for being a Weed, and surprisingly, so did the first year men. It was only the first year women who learned to not only trust him with their CADs, but to depend upon him for their competition strategies, paving the way for their dominant performance in all their events. By the end of the NSC, their trust in him bordered on worship. The Student Council also began to trust and lean on the Shiba brother and depended on him to deliver in what became a very close games. People were attending matches just to see what the guy would come up with next. When she was able, she found herself doing the exact same thing.

He even created CADs for some of the competitions, most notably Shizuku's rifle CAD for the shooting event she easily won first place in. The technology wasn't quite original because integrating a general CAD into a rifle form with a sight attached had been tried previously, but with dismal results. The originality came from the fact that Tatsuya-kun's device worked splendidly. He was even nominated to have his name entered into the National Magic University Complied Magic Encyclopedia Index of True Names (or just 'Index' for short) for it. That was an accomplishment that every engineer dreamed of having and was almost unheard of for a mere high school student. It meant that you had come up with a design or a concept so exceptional and important that it was considered a national achievement. Azusa was astounded when Tatsuya-kun declined this great honor and instead suggested that Shuzuku's name should be submitted as the developer instead. He said it was because he would be too embarrassed to have a magic associated with his name that he couldn't even use. This made no sense to Azusa at all.

What really hit Azusa hard wasn't even an achievement, it was merely a comment by some random person in the crowd during the Mirage Bat competition. She had already been reflecting on all the amazing achievements of Tatsuya-kun. She knew his skills well surpassed those of a highschooler. But it didn't really hit home until she heard someone on the crowd say "It's as if we're up against Taurus Silver out there!".

All of the achievements ran through her mind at the comment. The devices, the high class magics that he had incorporated into the women's CADs. Some of those magics had never had their activation sequences published. But Tatsuya-kun did it. There was only one explanation. It wasn't 'as if' the other schools were competing against Taurus Silver...

She recalled a conversation she had with Tatsuya-kun where she had wondered aloud who Silver-sama might really be and what he might be like. He had jokingly responded that perhaps Silver-sama was a Japanese teenager like them. Azusa had laughed it off as silly at the time, but now... He had also mentioned being a beta tester for FLT, which is how he had acquired that exquisite Silver Horn CAD. But, why would a teenager in high school be chosen to test cutting edge technology? She hadn't considered it at the time, but now it made perfect sense. The thought that kept running through her mind was a refrain of "How can this be?". The next thought was "What should I do?".

Azusa was always a bit nervous around Tatsuya-kun. Even though his engineering prowess awed her, his prowess and proficiency in violence scared her. Now that she felt she knew his 'secret', her apprehension doubled. The first time she saw him after her revelation, they happened to be alone in the Command Tent, the others having gone to eat, she assumed. When she saw him she froze. She thought that the word "Silver-sama" was only whispered in her own mind, but Tatsuya-kun's head came up sharply and looked at Azusa in a slightly ominous way. She was sure she wasn't imagining it.

Before she knew it, she blurted out "Are you...?" She stopped mid-sentence as his gaze became even more piercing. It felt like those eyes could cut her in half. She had never felt so scared in all her life. Holding her eyes with his own, he shook his head at her once. Not in denial, but in warning. She could feel the heat in her face ignite. She thought she might completely burn up on the spot. She realized that she really really didn't want to have this conversation with him. She managed to spit out nervously "Of c-c-course you aren't! How silly! What am I thinking?"

He looked at her, confused now, and asked "Are you alright, Azusa-san?"

Grateful for his change of subject she replied "Oh, umm, yes, I think I'm just tired and I'm afraid of making any mistakes."

He gave her a kind smile, something she rarely saw directed at anyone other than his sister. It was hard to believe he had just looking at her as if she was an enemy he was about to dispatch. "Just do your best as you always do and everything will be fine, Azusa-senpai."

With this he turned and left the tent, probably to get some rest himself. He worked tirelessly for the team and he must be as exhausted as Azusa, but he never looked it. He was always the same, composed guy as usual.

Azusa resolved at that time that she would never divulge what she had discovered. Not because she was afraid of Tatsuya-kun (she still was, a little bit), but because she considered him a teammate, and even maybe a friend. If he chose not to reveal himself as Silver-sama, it wasn't up to her to expose him. He must have his reasons.

She still had a difficult time reconciling the fact that she was going to high school with her hero! She knew that over time that would work itself out and she would be able to look at him as "Tatsuya-kun" instead of "Silver-sama" again someday. Probably.

With that comforting thought, she was able to get just a little sleep for the rest of the bus ride. She was met at the door of her home by her cheerful mother.

* * *

"Dear, there was a package delivered to you a few minutes ago. It was brought over by special courier too! Did you find an admirer that you didn't bother to mention to your poor mother? Anyway, it's on the kitchen table. Don't forget to wash up before dinner!"

Azusa took the package with her up to her room. She had no idea what it could be or who it could have come from. All she knew is that it was a little heavy. The package was plain, with only Azusa's name and address on it. No return address. She stared at it as if it would tell her who it was from if she just listened hard enough. That was crazy. She must be more tired than she thought. Shaking her head to clear it, she unwrapped the package.

Like the wrapping, the box was plain. It was a very nice, black lacquered box, but what made her gasp was the four-leaf logo of FLT Industries embossed on the small gold plaque affixed to the lid. Her vision became blurred with tears and her hands shook so much that she had to put the box down on her bed and begin her breathing exercises to calm herself down.

After she steadied herself and wiped away the tears, she reverently, lovingly, opened the box.

What she found made her gasp. Laying nestled in the foam packaging was a Silver Horn II CAD. Special model, limited edition. This wasn't even on the market yet! Its silver casing gleamed from the sunlight coming in through her window as if it was winking at her. She was mesmerized at the beauty of it. Joyful tears flowed freely down her face now and she discovered another surprise. Under Taurus Silver's engraved name her own name had been inscribed on the long barrel too.

Next to the device was a small piece of paper with a note, which read:

_**To Nakajo Azusa, my fellow engineer who always does her best.**_

_**T.S.**_

Overwhelmed, Azusa collapsed on her bed and cradled the box to her chest. "Thank you, Tatsuya-kun. I will cherish this forever." She knew that 'T.S.' stood for 'Taurus Silver', but in Azusa's mind it would forever mean 'Tatsuya Shiba'.

A little later, Azusa's mother came looking for her to see if she had cleaned up for dinner. She found her daughter fast asleep on her bed with an angelic smile on her face. In her arms she was cradling a pretty black box as if it was the most precious thing in the world. "Oh, maybe she did find herself a boyfriend!" With a smile, she left the room, closing the door softly behind her.


	3. Plans Gone Awry - Part I

**Author's Note: ** This is the first of five parts. It could have been a separate story, but I think it also fits in here so I've included it. Unlike the previous two chapters, this arc has a plot.

Special thanks to my Beta Reader, I Can Kill You With My Brain. This wouldn't have been completed without her help.

Plans Gone Awry - Part I

The two young ladies sat uneasily at the conference table of the Student Council meeting room. It was a very imposing room with its long, polished wood table and lush high-backed leather chairs. The view outside the picture window was a beautiful view of the campus and its many cherry blossom trees. They had both been in that room together countless times working with other council members, but today it was just the two of them and both knew this would not be a normal meeting.

"To what do I owe the pleasure of your company on this lovely Saturday morning, President?" Miyuki was, of course, confused, although she was careful to leave no trace of that emotion on her countenance. She had received Mayumi's request for a meeting scarcely an hour ago. The note delivered to the dwelling she shared with her brother contained no specifics, and she had no intuition whatsoever as to what this could be about. Since Tatsuya was not invited she could only guess that it maybe had something to do with him. Even if he had been invited, he had gone to visit Major Kazama and wouldn't have been able to attend anyway.

Or, it could be something else entirely. With the Student Council President, you never really knew what she was thinking. She had worried about it so long after initially reading the invitation that she found she didn't have time to change out of her casual dress. Miyuki didn't think her clothing would matter in this case anyway. She straightened her hemline without thinking about it as she took a seat at the conference table, her eyes never leaving Mayumi's face.

"I would like you to set Tatsuya free." Mayumi noted the slight widening of Miyuki's eyes before they narrowed. Was that an acknowledgment that she was on the mark? Or was she reading too much into it? While not stone-faced like Tatsuya, his little sister was well schooled in guarding her facial expressions when the situation required it. The only exception was when the subject was her beloved older brother. It was for that very reason that she opened the conversation this way. But, to Mayumi's consternation, the little sister offered nothing. She merely sat there and gazed at back at her as if expecting something more to be said.

She was silent like this for several seconds before replying in a somewhat feigned expression of confusion, "I do not understand, Saegusa-sempai."

Truthfully, Miyuki's silence hadn't been calculated. She was just too shocked to answer. The bluntness of the question had completely taken her by surprise. Questions raced through her mind as she struggled to retain a poker face.

_Why is she saying this? How much does she know? Should I acknowledge this or pretend to be confused?_ She had settled on confusion as it seemed the best course for now. It was a good delaying tactic that would force her opponent to explain more and possibly give some hint as to what she was really after. It saddened her to think that someone she had believed to be her friend had now become an 'opponent'.

Buying time to collect one's thoughts in such a situation was understandable and Mayumi was prepared to indulge her in this for a moment. The last minute invitation and the bluntness of her speech was all calculated to set Miyuki off balance. The frustrating part for Mayumi was she couldn't tell if her ploys worked or not. Being able to keep her composure like this...She had to be attached to one of the Master Clans. She shuddered inwardly at the thought that she might be right about which clan it was. To think this sweet, yet powerful child could be part of that clan. It made her want to be sick. But right now, that was only a suspicion. The point of this whole plan was to find out what clan she was part of, if any, and expose their plans.

This part alone was risky. One of the unwritten rules was to not poke one's nose into the business of other clans. At least not this directly. Spying was an accepted form of gathering information, but spying was considered a passive means. Sticking one's fingers directly into another clan's business was frowned upon by all the clans.

Mayumi shook off these wayward thoughts and concentrated again on the girl before her. Time to get back to business.

"I know that he is your Guardian, Miyuki-san. Don't you want your brother to have a real life?" Another calculated stab. She didn't use the word "Guardian" without reason. Out of all the major clans in the country, that term was only used by the Yotsuba. At the narrowing of Shiba-san's eyes, Mayumi's spirits lowered. She hadn't wanted to be, but she was right. Yotsuba.

Before she could ruminate on that further, Miyuki abruptly stood up. Abrupt, yet still graceful. Keeping her composure through all of this showed exceptional breeding. That alone showed that she most definitely was raised in one of the Clans. Now, sadly, Mayumi was almost positive which Clan that was.

"I apologize, Saegusa-sempai, but I don't understand this conversation at all and I must go to another appointment. Please understand." With that calm declaration, Miyuki went to the door and opened it, stopping at the threshold without turning back. Miyuki whispered something so low that Mayumi could barely make out her words. Those words were laced with a deep sadness. "I wish this had never happened, Saegusa-sempai." With that, she softly closed the door and was gone.

Mayumi understood then that Miyuki knew what she had just done. Miyuki was no fool. But, she thought with a sigh, it didn't really matter in the end. She hadn't wanted to do this. She felt as if she was betraying Miyuki and Tatsuya. Manipulating people she had come to believe were friends. All for politics. She seethed at the thought, but knew that wasn't completely true. Her father had told her little of his plans and suspicions in this matter, but if her own suspicions were correct, what was at stake was the balance of power between the ten master clans. If things were left unchecked, the minor families would begin to take sides and the only possible result of that would be civil war.

Mayumi shuddered at the thought. It would rip the whole country apart, weakening it to the point where a successful foreign invasion would be likely. Faced with that bleak possibility, Mayumi knew her duty. She didn't have to like it though.

She weighed the logic of that argument against the hole in her heart at the thought of using her friends this way. Well, it had already begun and she couldn't stop it now anyway. Her father had better know what he was doing. A single misstep would result in bloody chaos and the first clan to fall would likely be Saegusa. She fervently hoped that her role in this was done, but she had a feeling of dread that told her this was not the case. Leaning forward across the desk, she lowered her head onto her arms. The only sound in the room was her quiet sobbing.

_Why?_ This question kept repeating in Miyuki's mind. She understood what Mayumi was doing, but she couldn't understand why she was doing it. To Miyuki it felt as if her whole world was about to collapse. Going to high school and living with Tatsuya-sama was a dream come true for her. Normally, a successor candidate for the head of the Yotsuba would be subjected to all the dramas, plots, and intrigue that the Clan was involved in. But her current lifestyle had kept her away from most of that. She had been free to live almost as a normal young woman. Away from the Clan, away from her Aunt, and away from all the responsibilities a Clan-successor had to be aware of and involved in. She was allowed, at least for a little while, her fondest wish, which was to be able to live alone with her beloved Tatsuya-sama.

At least, until now. And now, after a ten minute conversation with someone she had once considered a friend, that was all over. As she walked home she wanted to cry, but she kept her face a mask as she had been taught all her life. When she got home, though, she would indulge herself in a prolonged bout of tears. She normally hated self-pity, but at the moment, she didn't care. The life she loved was ending and she wanted to grieve for it. Just for a little while before Tatsuya got home.

That thought brought Miyuki up short. Tatsuya! What was she going to tell him about this? The scenarios of his possible reactions ran through her mind as she continued her walk home. Her first thought was that if her brother believed that this could be a threat to Miyuki, he would remove that threat. Would he really kill Mayumi?

Yes, he would, if he believed it was to protect his sister. This thought saddened her immensely. Partly because her friend would be dead, and partly because of the pain it would bring to Tatsuya. He did not suffer great emotional extremes of love or anger or pain (except when it came to Miyuki), but that didn't mean he didn't feel emotions at all. The thought of his being in pain was in itself an almost unbearable pain for Mayuki.

Her second thought was even worse. She had seen the looks that Mayumi gave to her brother when she thought no one was looking. Always using feeble excuses to try to get him alone with her. He never objected, of course, since she was an upper class woman and President of the Student Council. He never seemed very uncomfortable being asked to be alone with her either. What if...? What if he decided that the best way to defuse the threat to Miyuki (and the Yotsuba family) was to marry into the Saegusa family? After wedding Mayumi this silly game of theirs would have to cease.

She knew that her imagination was just running wild now, but she could not dismiss this possibility. If he proposed, would Mayumi accept? Even knowing that their families were, at least for the time being, enemies? She might agree for that very reason. A political marriage wouldn't bring peace to the families, but it would stop them from actively working against each other...probably. If that were to happen, then Miyuki would most likely be called back to the manor to live. Another proper Guardian for her station could not be obtained soon enough to allow her to continue school.

No more high school, no more friends, no more living with Tatsuya. The idea of not living with him anymore brought equal parts anger and despair. She never ever wanted to live without her oniisan and she would fight to keep him.

After a few minutes of this train of thought, Miyuki realized that she was so tense and angry that she could barely see the street she was walking upon. Unclenching her fists, she saw where her nails had dug into her palms so hard as to cut them a little, and she stopped to watch a drop of her blood fall to the sidewalk. Her body was shaking with suppressed fury. She decided then that if her Tatsuya decided that marriage to that woman was the best option, then Miyuki would kill his bride-to-be herself. No one would ever be allowed to touch oniisan except for Miyuki.

She shook her head hard to try to dislodge those unreasonable thoughts. No, her only logical option now was to inform her Aunt Maya, current head of the Yotsuba family, and let her decide the proper course of action. Tatsuya would find out about all this of course, but hopefully not until after a suitable (non-matrimonial or non-homicidal) solution was put in motion.


	4. Plans Gone Awry - Part II

Plans Gone Awry - Part II

The next day Mayumi felt only a little better about the whole situation. She could only hope her part in this was done. She thought this as she sipped tea in their comfortable reception room as she finished explaining to Katsuto what had transpired.

He sat across from her, stone-faced, as he listened. After years of interactions with the heir-apparent to the Jyumonji family, she had never seen him wear any other expression. Even his presence here had been calculated by her father and probably Katsuto's too. If indeed the Shiba siblings were Yotsuba, the house was probably under surveillance and it would be quickly surmised that not only was House Saegusa involved, but also House Jyumanji.

One house prying into another's was one thing. More than one house being involved would require a completely different response. In fact, Mayumi knew that the smart response by Yotsuba would be no response at all.

If that were the case, Saegusa and Jyumonji would be satisfied that their message had been sent:We know what you are doing and we are watching you. The first part would be a lie, of course. Neither House really knew what Yotsuba was up to, but it would be enough rein them in a little. That was the plan that Mayumi assumed, anyway.

Worst case would be that Maya Yotsuba would request a meeting with the heads of Saegusa and Jyumonji under the guise of a pleasant dinner meeting to hash out some type of agreement. Either way, Mayumi, and likely Katsuto, would no longer be involved. That thought allowed her to relax a bit as she waited for Katsuto to process the information she had just relayed to him. But before he could say anything, there was a knock on the door.

It was the head butler, bearing a tray with two envelopes on it. Mayumi's sense of confusion was only eclipsed by her feeling of dread. Bowing deeply, he began, "I'm sorry for intruding, mistress, but these were just delivered and the messenger said they were urgent. He had mentioned that his next stop was the Jyumonji house, so I took the liberty of informing him that master Katsuto-sama was here, so he left that envelope with me as well." He placed the tray on the table between them, bowed deeply once more, and left, closing the door softly behind him.

Both of them just stared at the envelopes, neither of them reaching out to take them. They were plain envelopes. The only thing on them were names. Not just "Saegusa" and "Jyumonji" as would be expected on missives to the master of the house; "Mayumi Saegusa" and "Katsuto Jyumonji" were clearly written in beautiful script. Staring at each other, they each could tell what the other already knew. This had just become a personal matter for the both of them.

It took considerable effort for Mayumi to control the shudder that went through her body just then. As if on cue, they both opened and read their invitations. For long minutes, with heads bowed, they continued to stare at the contents. It wasn't the contents that were mesmerizing. It was the signature at the bottom that had them riveted.

Mayumi had never been afraid in her life, never crumbled under pressure, never wavered when in a pinch. The feeling that she had right now was the closest thing to panic that she'd ever felt. She looked up to see that even now, Jyumonji, that stone-faced bastard, revealed nothing of what he was feeling. However, Mayumi could clearly see a drop of sweat at his brow. The idea that he could be as rattled as she about this had a slight calming affect on her.

"This was...unexpected," was all he managed to say. Like Mayumi, he was clutching the invitation as if he was afraid to let go of it.

"You think?" Mayumi retorted with a surprising calm that she certainly didn't feel. She looked down again at the letter and at the signature. Maya Yotsuba. All the discussions about this plan had revolved around the assumption that at least Miyuki was Yotsuba and that Tatsuya was her Guardian. There was also the slight possibility that they were true siblings and that both were Yotsuba. At least, Mayumi had decided that it was only a slight chance. It was assumed also that one or both of them were part of a Yotsuba branch family. None of them had imagined that they might be part of the main family.

The matriarch in the main branch of the family, Maya, was childless. She had a twin sister, who had since passed away, but it was thought that she too was without children. How could the Shibas possibly fit into that? It was Jyumonji that expressed the obvious.

"They could not be from the main branch. Our inquiries have been brought to Maya Yotsuba's attention and she has simply taken charge of the situation from their end, as befitting the head of the clan." While that gave her some relief, it only alleviated part of her anxiety. They still had to meet with Maya Yotsuba, Queen of Night, Devil of the Far East; whose magic was considered not one of the strongest in the country, but in the world. Her specialty was Meteor Stream, which was a Convergence-type magic. Her father had drawn her a picture to explain it and its simplicity stuck in her head ever since.

He drew a dot, labeled Point-Of-Light-A, and then another dot a few inches away he labeled Point-Of-Light-B. He had then drawn a line between the two points, explaining that whatever object that fell between those two points would have a hole drilled through it. While not a laser, its effect was very similar, and devastating. It wasn't a very technical explanation, but Mayumi was only ten years old at the time and she had never thought to ask her father for a better explanation.

That, however, wasn't what worried Mayumi. They weren't walking into a battle, after all. At least, not a physical one. Each Clan had its own personality and methods of doing things, but the Yotsuba were known for their secretive methods. They always worked in the shadows and they were adept at manipulating people and events.

All the Clans were secretive to a large extent, but none of them was on a level with the Yotsuba in that regard. The other clans had whole departments that were dedicated to trying to figure out what the Yotsuba were up to. As far as she was aware, none of those departments had been very successful. To put it bluntly, they were likely going to be manipulated somehow.

It may be as Jyumanji said and Maya had simply stepped in as head of the clan to negotiate something. Or, and this would give Mayumi nightmares later, Maya had figured out a way to turn all of this to her advantage and Saegusa and Jyumanji would be used to advance the aims of the Yotsuba. And the main pawns of this would be Jyumanji and Mayumi. All preparations for this would assume the latter and not the former.

This was over both of their heads, but they had no choice but to attend the meeting and listen to what Maya had to say, while keeping their own mouths shut and giving nothing away.

The Jyumanji heir soon took his leave, presumably to meet with his father and advisors to discuss how exactly to approach this meeting and to try to prepare as best they could. It was also something Mayumi would be doing herself.


	5. Plans Gone Awry - Part III

Plans Gone Awry – Part III

As she sat in the car that was taking her to what felt like her doom, Mayumi found that her mind drifted to matters other than her upcoming meeting. This was the kind of trip that made you re-evaluate your life.

She had no illusions about her situation. She was a daughter of the Saegusa. She was likely never going to be head of the clan; she was currently third in line behind her older brothers. However, that didn't mean that she didn't have her role in the family.

As a female magician of acknowledged power born into one of the ruling clans, she would be expected to marry to the advantage of the family. And she would be expected to marry another magician of comparable or better talent in order to bear children that would themselves become powerful magic users. As such a person, she would be expected to marry very young to optimize the probability of bearing many such children to the benefit of the family. Mayumi would be surprised if a match was not made for her before she finished university.

There was no rule that says she couldn't find her own mate, but that mate would have to be approved by her father as head of the clan. With her level of ability, her choice of husband would be quite limited. If so inclined, she could date whomever she wished. Who she would be allowed to marry was another matter.

Her intelligence, too, was acknowledged by the family. As she gained more life experience she would be expected to act as advisor to her father as well as the presumptive heir. Her keen insights were already considered as indispensable to the family, and yet she was still a teenager.

To be honest, she hadn't really given too much thought to the whole business until recently. She had her duties as Student Council President to keep her busy, as well as all the events that had transpired in this past year. That was one reason she had never dated. It was also true that she had never met anyone with whom the thought held any appeal. Well, maybe that wasn't quite true.

She felt her face heat up as a picture of Tatsuya appeared in her mind. She glanced at her companion in the vehicle. Fortunately Mari, who was sitting across from her in the limousine, was staring out the window, lost in thought just like Mayumi. Mari was there at Mayumi's request, and she still felt rather guilty about it. She was not sure whether it was right to drag Mari into this mess. The Watanabes were not one of the ten master clans, so this was really none of her affair. However, an old custom dictated that when attending a meeting such as this it was permitted to bring someone to act as a guard for the attendee. In the old days this was a prudent custom, as assassinations and other unpleasant circumstances could occur. Nowadays, in a time of relative peace between the families, this custom had changed and the "guard" became an "assistant".

In asking Mari to assume this role, however, Mayumi was thinking more in line with the old ways. She had no idea how this all could play out, so she wanted someone she could trust to watch her back. The problem with this was that Mayumi had had to tell her what was going on. At least, she had to tell her most of it.

The decision to do that hadn't been Mayumi's but her father's. Her father reasoned that at this point it would be better if another family was present. Much to Mayumi's relief, Mari was allowed to accompany her after getting approval from her own family for the trip. Business like this wasn't to be taken lightly and another clan getting involved was something that had to be discussed very carefully. Once the Watanabes were assured that their daughter would only be there for observation purposes, they agreed. And the Watanabes were known for being able to keep their mouths shut.

That thought brought to mind Tatsuya again. The master of keeping his mouth shut. So many secrets he kept hidden. His abilities. His family. His history. All kept behind a seemingly impenetrable information barrier along with all that came a stone face that easily matched Katsuto Jyumanji's. He had a standard profile that was accessible to most anyone, of course, just like everyone else. Finding out more details about someone wasn't usually terribly hard either. But in Tatsuya's case, some very talented information gatherers were thwarted in their attempts to find anything useful about this particular high schooler.

After what was now commonly known as The Yokohama Disturbance, there were many agents trying to unearth information about him and dozens of others who were involved in those events. None of them could find anything on him other than that standard profile. The fact that his history was locked down so well was what led her father to suspect Yotsuba's involvement somehow.

What did Mayumi know about Tatsuya, though? Everything she thought she about him just led to more questions. She knew he was a genius level engineer. Even Asuza looked up to him now. Ever since the Nine Schools Competition, when he demonstrated what could only be described as engineering wizardry, not only Asuza but all the technical staff did. The other eight schools were blown away as well. Designing his own CADS, coming up with new magic for his contestants. Where did he get those skills? The military?

Speaking of the military, Tatsuya's combat skills rivaled his engineering skills. Before the NSC ever started, Mayumi had an intuition that he would be proficient at combat. Her first proof of that was when he easily defeated Hattori in their duel. Hattori had never been defeated before, yet the match ended in five seconds with Hattori face first on the floor and Tatsuya calmly putting away his CAD as if nothing unusual had happened. Ninjitsu skills, Resonance, Gram Demolition, magic nullification. It was one surprise after another with that guy. Finding out he was a Special Lieutenant with the JSDF was a shock for everyone in the conference room at the time. Mari, Asuza, Shizuku, Erica, Leo, Mikihiko, all of them. All except for Miyuki, of course.

What other secrets did she know about Tatsuya? She knew there was more. She was suitably amazed at all of this, but there were two things that really stuck out for her about Tatsuya. The first was what Miyuki had called Regrowth. Tatsuya could heal any injury short of death by rewinding the Eidos for the victim and getting a good 'healthy' copy of it, which he then laid over the current Eidos. In effect, it was a restoration of a previous state and not technically "healing". She would never have believed such a thing possible if she hadn't seen it with her own eyes. It was truly god-like, just as Miyuki had described it. Like Kanon, when she first heard about it, she felt that it shouldn't be a secret ability and it could be used to help so many people. She felt that way until Miyuki revealed, between clenched teeth, exactly what the price of casting that spell cost Tatsuya. The immense pain of the victim was felt by Tatsuya, condensed and multiplied, and he hadn't flinched when he healed Isori and Kirihara.

How does one go learn to handle such pain? How is it possible? It hurt her heart even thinking about how this must affect Tatsuya.

It reminded her of the Monolith Code competiton when he was struck down by Ichijou from Third High with an illegal display of firepower (she still burned with anger whenever she thought about it). She had panicked when Tatsuya went down. He was obviously injured critically. Her chest felt as if it was constricting. She couldn't breathe. She panicked even more when Tatsuya impossibly picked himself up and dispatched Ichijou with a literal snap of his fingers. Katsuto had to calm her down before she could get her wits back. It was very embarrassing.

Knowing what she did now, she assumed that Tatsuya could cast Regrowth on himself. It was the only explanation that made sense. Miyuki had once said that no one could beat her onii-sama in battle. At the time, Mayumi had just thought that was the talk of a proud sister bragging about her brother. Mayumi had to concede now that Miyuki may very well have been just stating a fact.

The other thing that stuck out occurred in Yokahama. A group of them had holed up in a conference center to plan how they would escape from the Asian Alliance's attack. The group was just finalizing their plans when they noticed that Tatsuya wasn't paying attention. He wasn't even looking at them. His focus was on one of the walls in the direction of the main entrance of the conference center. Suddenly, he drew his CAD and pointed it at the wall. Mayumi instinctively cast MultiScope to see what Tatsuya was aiming at. MultiScope allowed her to see what was beyond the walls. What she saw shocked her.

A large truck was barreling towards the building. She could also see that the truck was loaded with explosives, enough to do considerable damage to the building and probably kill them all in the process. Another suicide attack. Calmly, he pulled the trigger. What happened next would give her nightmares for the next few days. The truck just...dissolved into nothing. All that was left was the driver who, due to momentum, flew through the air and hit the building. She had only read about this in technical journals. As far as she knew it was merely a theoretical magic. Mist Dispersal. She had never heard of anyone being able to cast it, yet she had seen exactly that with her own eyes. And no one else had seen it. She had asked him what that was, hoping there was another explanation, but he had turned away from her. Despite the fear of that power, she still found herself smiling to herself because it was a secret that was shared just between them. Probably not true, but that's what it felt like. It was a talent that seemed directly opposite of his Regrowth.

One power used to heal, the other to erase things as if they never existed. Yin and Yang. God and devil. So much power to entrust into the mind and body of a teenager. That was a great burden, even to a teenager as incredibly mature as he was. She would share his burdens of his responsibilities if he would only open up to her. As a friend. As a ...confidant. Yes, that's the word. Confidant. Nothing else.

Unaccountably, she felt her cheeks flush again. Another quick glance at her companion assured her that Mari was still staring out the window. This odd train of thought made her examine what she felt about him. She felt drawn to him when she first met him in the courtyard just before the entrance ceremony. She'd already known the name Shiba Tatsuya just from his amazing technical grades, especially since his practical grades were so poor. It was very odd for someone to have such disparity between their practical and their knowledge scores.

He was moderately handsome, though in the last few months he seemed to have become more handsome. He was tall, but everyone except for Azusa was tall compared to her (dammit!). He wore the same deadpan expression that she would become so familiar with. She tried to tease him out of that sometimes, but with only limited results. His personality was calm, cool, and collected, as they sometimes say in those American novels. He was never excited, never flustered, always sure of himself. Except around women, of course.

She was delighted when she finally found that chink in his armor. He was most susceptible to romantic teasing. He would fall silent and often roll his eyes when he was in an uncomfortable situation with a lady.

This discovery, of course, resulted in Mayumi trying to exploit it every chance she got. She would flirt with him and watch him tense up. It was highly amusing for a while, but eventually even he caught on to what she was doing and conditioned himself to not react at all.

It was a shame, because she really enjoyed flirting with him. He never treated her with the exaggerated veneration that so many seemed to show to 'Saegusa-sempai', nor did he ever treat her disrespectfully. He treated her as a person and she really appreciated that. It was one of the reasons she enjoyed being with him. She would tease him and he would respond right back in his own droll way, never acting as if he should be afraid to offend her. It was an easy friendship she had never before been able to have with a man.

If, for some inexplicable reason, it came down to her having to marry Tatsuya, she found herself quite at peace with the thought. She-

The stopping of the car interrupted her thoughts. Looking out the window, she could see that they had arrived at their destination. She met Mari's gaze and saw what she hoped was in her own eyes. A look of determination and resolution.


	6. Plans Gone Awry - Part IV

Plans Gone Awry - Part IV

"Tell me why I'm here again, Jyumanji-sempai?"

"We've already gone over that, Chiba-san," he replied in his usual monotone. Erica had been trying to engage him in discussion throughout the trip. They were almost at their destination now and she had barely gotten five words out of him. It was like trying to have a conversation with a brick wall.

He had gone over the whole business with her days ago when he first proposed that she go with him. What he hadn't told her, despite being asked repeatedly, was why her? She and Jyumanji had barely ever spoken to each other before this and they couldn't even be considered acquaintances, much less friends. All he would tell her was "Pay attention to what is said and be yourself". What the hell did that mean?

She understood the idea behind bringing a member of another clan, especially if what Jyumanji had told her was really true. The Chibas weren't one of the Ten Master Clans, but this could conceivably effect all of the one hundred clans in the country. But again, why her? He could have picked anyone from any number of clans to go along with him. Even other members of her own family would be more obvious choices.

It has to be something to do with her connection to Tatsuya. That was the only thing that made sense. It certainly had nothing to do with her diplomatic skills, of which she had none. She giggled aloud at that thought, but the only reaction of her outburst from her companion was a slightly raised eyebrow. Stone-faced bastard.

As for Tatsuya... She had already had her suspicions about him being Yotsuba. His talents and abilities didn't come from some unheard of minor clan. The ability to wield magic was inherited through bloodlines, everyone knew that, and to have the abilities he did he must have had at least one exceptionally strong parent. If he truly was Yotsuba, that talent would have been passed down from his mother's side of the family most likely.

And he was trained. He was trained mercilessly. She had seen his scars during their little vacation at Shizuku's beach house. They were serious wounds that had definitely been acquired over years. It chilled her to think about what he must have gone through, but the warrior in her felt an immense admiration for him having gone through it and surviving. To Erica, those scars weren't something to hide, they were badges of honor. She had once remarked to Tatsuya that she wouldn't want to face him in battle. That had been before she'd seen those scars or even seen half of his abilities. Now that she'd seen a bit of what he was capable of, she was sure that she probably wouldn't want to fight beside him either.

It hurt her pride immeasurably to admit it, but if she was beside him in a fight, she would be the one slowing him down. The thought galled her beyond belief. There was a time when she thought she liked him as more than a friend. It didn't take her long to figure out that he wasn't her type. While she was sure he had emotions in there somewhere, he almost never let them out. Erica needed someone who was more expressive and who would yell back at her when she lashed out.

That made her smile and fleetingly wonder what Leo was doing right now. She shook her head to clear it. Why would I randomly think of that guy? Back to the matter at hand.

It was highly amusing to her that they were using Tatsuya to goad the Yotsuba. Erica tried to bait him all the time, and Mayumi teased him a lot, yet he never took the bait. He was ungoadable, if that was even a word. And here they were using him to try to incite a whole clan. Erica could always appreciate irony, especially when it involved one of her friends.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the car stopping. She got out before the driver could open her door and stretched her legs. Maybe this will be fun after all. It should certainly be entertaining.

_What the hell did you drag me into, Mayumi?_

Mari sat in the plush Saegusa family limousine, staring out the window. She wasn't paying attention to the scenery, but rather she was lost in her thoughts. She knew this was a bad idea from the moment Mayumi brought this up two days ago.

"Would you go with me to a little meeting?" The sugary-sweet voice and oh-too-innocent smile immediately set off alarm bells in Mari's brain. She knew this was going to be bad.

"What meeting?"

"A little meeting that's been set up with the Yotsuba family head Maya. At their estate."

"What! Are you out of your devious little mind?"

"Aww, come on now, Mari. It will be fun!"

"I would love for you to explain to me exactly what fun there would be going anywhere near a Yotsuba estate, much less Maya's. What kind of a mess did you get yourself into?"

The smile was gone now, and Mayumi turned serious. She explained the plan already set in motion by the Saegusa and Jyumonji families and about the invitation to the meeting the following weekend. She also explained Mari's role.

She had been wrong. This wasn't bad. This was beyond bad. Mayumi reached over to cover her friend's hand with her own.

"I need you, Mari."

After staring into her friend's eyes for a moment, Mari said, "I will say 'yes', of course, but you know it isn't that easy."

"You have to explain this to your parents and get their permission. I understand."

"So, all I need to do is stand by you and that's all? I don't supposed I can wear a CAD?" Mari asked hopefully.

"No, we don't want to bring anything that looks like a provocation. However," and now those famous dimples came out with Mayumi's smile, "You can bring with you anything you can hide on your person." Mari laughed nervously. That could be any number of things. She would have felt better wearing a CAD, though. She could probably manage to hide one on her person somewhere. She'd also bet that Mayumi would be doing the same, as would Katsuto.

There was never a dull moment around Mayumi, she thought, as a huge sigh escaped her. There was never a dull moment around Tatsuya either, was there? I swear, that man is nothing but trouble! Though when she thought about it, he had never caused any trouble himself. He just always seemed to be at the center of it.

Maybe Kanon was right when she told him that trouble loved him. Mari couldn't think of a more fitting phrase. The man was definitely maddening at times, but at the same time she had grown to respect him quite a lot. Of the people that knew him, or at least hung around him the most, he was respected for different things. Some respected his engineering skills, which Mari had to admit were above and beyond any high school student. At the NSC, he had proven his technical prowess to pretty much all of the nine magic schools. And to think that the first year boys at his own school hadn't wanted them as their engineer. Idiots.

Some were in awe of his combat skills. He was certainly the best in his class, and maybe one of the best in the entire school. She would pay good money to see a match between Tatsuya and Jyumanji. What she wouldn't use her money on was trying to wager on which of them would win. She'd have to give Jyumanji the edge in raw power (barely), but she couldn't shake the feeling that Tatsuya would use his cunning to win the battle anyway.

That cunning was what Mari admired about him. As an acknowledged master strategist herself, she could spot another of her own kind. Some of the strategies he came up with in the Games had shocked even her. She was still a little pissed about that.

She snuck a quick glance at Mayumi, who was also staring out her window. But this little trip wasn't about any of those things. What exactly was it about?

Mayumi should have turned the invitation down. That would have been the smart thing to do. If she had put her foot down, Mari didn't believe her family would force her to attend this. Saegusa or not, she really had no business doing this. Neither did Jyumanji for that matter. Then why? Did Mayumi really believe that she was saving Tatsuya from the clutches of the evil Yotsuba clan? Did she think that she was being some noble heroine from a story who swoops in and saves her beloved from danger?

She wasn't sure if she should laugh or cry at the thought. Beloved? Hmmmm. She did flirt with Tatsuya like no other man of their acquaintance. Mari had always put that down to the fact that Tatsuya rarely blinked in the face of that teasing and Mayumi saw it as a challenge. Perhaps that wasn't the only reason. She had noticed long ago that whenever Mayumi was in the same room as Tatsuya that her attention was focused on him most of the time, either talking to him, teasing him, or simply just keeping an eye on him. She also noticed the icy glares that Miyuki would direct at Mayumi on those occasions. The younger sister certainly thought that the Student Council President was casting her net at Tatsuya.

The effect he had on some of the women in their circle of friends struck Mari as strange. Honoka was obviously head-over-heels in love with the guy. She wore her feelings for him like a damned coat. Even thick-headed Tatsuya had noticed her ardor eventually. There was a time that she even thought Erica (that little bitch) had feelings for him. If she ever did, they seemed to have changed over time. Talk about a match that had no chance of working! Cool, calm Tatsuya with impulsive, hotheaded Erica? The thought was quite amusing. Though they weren't lovers, she was definitely on very friendly terms with him.

Then there was Miyuki. His little sister. She was a different kettle of fish entirely. Mari didn't know anything about the siblings' history and why the girl might feel this way, but she definitely worshipped her older brother. She was always bragging about him. Now that Mari thought about it a little, everything she bragged about him had turned out to be true. Is it merely bragging if what she says turns out to be right?

Of course, there were the hints at the unthinkable. A brother-sister romance. It didn't help that Tatsuya would occasionally joke that if they weren't siblings they would be lovers. Those jokes would embarrass the hell out of anyone else who happened to be in the room with the exception of Leo and Erica, who would usually play along and find it all quite funny.

It made Mari feel slightly ill just thinking about it. Personally, she had never been attracted to the dour first year guy in that way. She already had a man. Chiba Naotsugu. The perfect man for her, though he was a few years older. His only negative was that he happened to be an older brother to Chiba Erica. And Erica was not shy about her displeasure of the fact that her brother was dating "that woman", as she not-so-affectionately referred to Mari when the three of them were in the same room. And on that sour note, the car rolled to a slow halt in front of the huge house that was their destination.

She saw another empty limo parked in the driveway. Jyumanji must already be here.


	7. Plans Gone Awry - Part V

Plans Gone Awry – Part V

"Why now, Mistress?" Tadanori Hayama, head butler of the House Yotsuba, served his mistress her morning tea, as he had done every morning since she was old enough to drink it.

There was no compelling reason for Maya to answer her subordinate. Except that, having served the family as butler since her father's time, he had earned the right to ask questions that other servants would not have the nerve to even consider. On occasion, he had offered useful insights into issues important to the House. He served as a useful sounding board for her thoughts. He was the closest thing to a confidant that she had had since her sister's passing.

"Something must be done, Hayama. He's become too powerful, and more quickly than I had anticipated." She sipped her tea as she became lost in her thoughts.

Unwittingly or not, Tatsuya had made some very useful connections in his short time in high school. Saegusa, Chiba, perhaps even Jyumanji, as well as some of the minor clans. She berated herself for not having anticipated something like this. But how could she have? Tatsuya's personality was dour and he lacked the ability to convey any emotions Maya would think were required to form anything but casual friendships.

How had this happened? Not that Maya pretended to know much about friendships, except on an intellectual level. Relationships were about influencing people to get what one wanted or needed. Nothing more.

Until recently she had believed that to control Tatsuya, all that was necessary was to allow Miyuki some of the freedoms she desired. Attending high school. Living away from the estate. Maya had granted these freedoms reluctantly, but they had been insufficient. The circumstances of his creation and the building of his powers was making him an imminent threat to the family. With allies, the situation became even more urgent. It was time to either separate Tatsuya from his sister or separate Tatsuya from his new friends. Of the two, severing the friendships would be more likely to be successful.

Shiba Tatsuya. Genetically, a failure of the House Yotsuba. Born weak in magical talent, he could never be a successor to the Head of the House. The Head must be intelligent, have a strong desire to lead the House, and above all possess a strong talent in magic.

Of those three, Tatsuya had exhibited only one. Intelligence. That, he had most likely inherited from his mother Miya, Maya's late twin sister. Not only intelligence, but also cunning, a knowledge of how to manipulate people and situations. Though he hid it well, Tatsuya had an abundance of this talent. If that one talent was sufficient to lead then he would have been name as a successor. In another of the families this would have been enough, but more was needed to lead Yotsuba.

His personality as a child had been weak. He was affable and enjoyed pleasing others, especially his mother. He was a follower, not a leader. That must have come from the Shiba side of his lineage. Perhaps it was not fair to judge him on this when he was so young, but it was thought within the family that these weaknesses were inherited and would not change as he grew up.

Even if he did grow up to be a leader, there was no overlooking his glaring deficiencies as a magician. While his abilities with psions showed promise, he was unable to wield conventional magic even at a basic level. With such a poor level of magical ability, Tatsuya could not even be considered Yotsuba. It was because of this realization that Tatsuya would henceforth be known as Shiba Tatsuya. Along with other options as to what to do with this deficient child was banishment: he would be sent to live with an outlaying branch family to live out his life as a servant. In effect, he was disowned.

Before that happened, Maya approached Miya with an idea.

"Instead of wasting your son as a servant, why do we not make a magician out of him? We can create an artificial magician. If we succeed, he can become a successor candidate. If at least partially successful, he can become a Guardian to his sister."

"And if it fails?"

"If it fails, we have lost nothing. Remember, sister, it was your weakness that created this situation in the first place."

And it was true. It was acknowledged within the family that had Miya not fallen in love with, and married, Shiba Tatsurou, she would not have birthed such an inferior magician. Tatsurou was a business man and investor with almost non-existent magical talent. He also had a weak personality that Maya had openly despised.

Miya had met him at a party and had fallen in love instantly. Despite the adamant objections from her father, she had married him. The result of that union had been Tatsuya.

To be fair, the birth of Miyuki had also been a result of that union. Miyuki was the exact opposite of her brother in terms of talent. Even for a member of the Yotsuba family, her potential was almost unmeasurable.

She had intelligence and a subtle cunning too, which, like her brother, she tended to hide. That was not necessarily a bad thing. It was often an advantage to let your adversaries underestimate you.

As for leadership, she exhibited it naturally. Always a formal child, her manners and poise led others to see her as mature, even though she was still a small child. People tended to follow her lead naturally, even people who were older than she. In short, she was the perfect successor candidate.

The months of work on Tatsuya had been torturous on his body and his mind. However, despite some non-magical enhancements, the goal of making him a first class magician had failed. His abilities with psions had increased and he had developed various 'minor' talents, but his use of conventional magic could only charitably be referred to as average. He would not become the next head of the family.

However, those 'minor' talents, along with his innate abilities regarding martial arts, at least guaranteed that Tatsuya would prove useful as Miyuki's guardian, so the work of the twins was not totally wasted. Instead of being banished, he would become a servant. Not Yotsuba, but merely a tool of the family.

Countries around the world originally created magicians as weapons. They were still used as such today. Recent public efforts to 'humanize' magicians were more to assure the population that magic users were not just some frightening Frankenstein that could turn on them, but rather were patriotic soldiers dedicated to serving the country with their powers. In other words, they were humans, just like the rest of the people.

At the dawn of the age of magicians, genetic experimentation had been widespread throughout the world, as were breeding techniques to make sure that strong magicians were born. Some of those genetic experiments were now considered barbaric and were banned in most countries, the exceptions being the Great Asian Alliance, and the Yotsuba. It was widely known that the GAA was doing unsanctioned experiments on magicians in order to create weapons, usually at the cost of lives. The patrons of the GAA, most prominently China, mouthed all the correct words to the world, always publicly condemning such experimentation while behind the scenes not only approving but also funding such experiments.

Japan, on the other hand, firmly believed that such things were morally wrong and would not condone such things either publicly or privately. However, even countries with the best intentions will overlook such moral failings if it could be the difference between survival and extinction. And so, despite all the rumors about the illegal activites of the Yotsuba, the government turned a blind eye as long as the family was discrete.

To develop better weapons, one must experiment. This was almost a family motto for the Yotsuba. However, widespread experimentation was not allowed. Uncontrolled work was prohibited. Branch families could not simply work on their own projects as they wished. If any branch of the family did as they pleased with frivolous experimentation, it would result in a pointless loss of family members. It would become impossible to keep them secretive and free from government interference. For those reasons, all undertakings were proposed to the family Head, who either blessed or forbade the endeavor. Most requests were turned away, either because the benefit was negligible or it could result in a threat to the family itself.

The work done with Tatsuya, had the proposal come from members of the family other than Miya and Maya, would have been denied for that latter reason. When one goes about trying to create a monster, one needs to be very sure they have the means to control that monster. The sibling love for Miyuki, with the constraining of his full powers were supposed to be the locks that kept the monster in his cage.

The real problem that wasn't accounted for was Miyuki's feelings toward her brother. From an early age the siblings were kept apart, and when they were together Miyuki was schooled to consider Tatsuya as simply her Guardian-in-training, not a real member of the family.

As a result, Miyuki considered Tatsuya as more of a distant relative that she didn't know, instead of a brother who was only a year apart from her in age. He was a stranger who she had no desire to learn about, much less get close to. A servant, and nothing more. She referred to him as 'that person', or 'ani', which meant older brother, but without the endearment of 'onii-san' or the respect of 'onii-sama'. Things were progressing exactly how Maya and Miya had envisioned it.

Maya was quite aware of when exactly that relationship had started to change. Okinawa. His training completed, that vacation was used as an excuse to formally introduce Tatsuya as Miyuki's Guardian. Tatsuya had saved Miyuki's life during an incursion of the GAA.

Just as a Guardian was trained to do, he had saved her. But Miyuki refused to see it that way. From then on, in her mind, Tatsuya was 'onii-sama', with all the love and respect that accompanied that term. It was Maya's first clue that her plans were not going quite as she expected. The fatal flaw seemed to be Maya's misunderstanding of human emotions. Even now, she couldn't fully comprehend how it all happened.

A simple vacation that led to this meeting today. A simple vacation that would change the course of everything.

At the sound of a car in the driveway, Hayama excused himself from his mistress with a deep bow, and went to greet her guests.


	8. Plans Gone Awry - Final

Plans Gone Awry – Part VI – Final

The Yotsuba estate in Tokyo wasn't really in the city, it was just outside of it. The grounds were quite large, and likely expensive. However, this would not be a problem for one of the Ten Master Clans. The house was also large, and it was reported that this was not really a main residence. Like the other families, they had multiple properties, and this one was used only when meeting with other families or hosting events. It was built to impress.

When she and Mari were escorted into the lavish reception room in the mansion, Mayumi quickly noted three things:

The first was that the mistress of the house was seated on a velvet couch, and while the woman must be pushing fifty years old she looked barely thirty. Probably genetics. Mayumi knew of no magic that would hold someone's youth, but with this family who knew? Other chairs were set in a semi-circle around the couch. Ah, so this is not going to be a discussion so much as a lecture. That was fine with her. She didn't want to try bargaining with this dangerous person anyway. It would be beyond her experience to deal capably with such a situation. She was wise enough to understand that much.

The second thing she noticed was the person accompanying Katsuto. She almost fell over from shock when she saw that it was Chiba Erica. Impetuous, hot-headed, and tactless, Erica was the last person who should be at a sensitive meeting like this. She glanced sharply at Katsuto, who was sipping his tea. His eyes came up to meet hers and Mayumi read Trust me in his gaze. It wasn't like she had much of a choice!

Erica was openly wearing her CAD, the one shaped like a baton, tucked into her belt. Tactless! Mayumi groaned inwardly as she and Mari took their seats. This was going to be a disaster.

The last thing she noticed was that there was an extra chair, a little apart from the others. Who else was invited to this little party? From what happened next, Mayumi guessed that this would remain a mystery for a little while since Maya looked ready to start.

"Ah, Mayumi-san, daughter of the Saegusa. I welcome you to my home. It is a pleasure to meet you." The smile on her face reminded Mayumi of a wolf's grin. She hoped that that was just her imagination.

Mayumi nodded her head. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Yotsuba-sama."

She and Mari were served their tea by a waiting maid, who withdrew from the room after her duty was completed. While this was going on, Mayumi noted that Maya was stealing quick glances at Erica. It was obvious that her presence was not expected. If Katsuto's intent was to get the woman off balance, the plan seemed to have succeeded.

"Shall we begin?" She glanced at Katsuto before resting her gaze at Mayumi. "I understand that you wish to 'free Tatsuya-kun', as you put it?" The mirth at the idea was clear on the woman's face, and for some reason that angered the younger woman. "What makes you think that my nephew is in bondage and needs to be freed?"

Mayumi was ready for this question and replied calmly. "It is obvious that Shiba Tatsuya is bound to this family in some fashion even though he does not consider himself Yotsuba." She knew this was a weak argument, but freeing Tatsuya was merely a ploy devised as an excuse to find out what the Yotsuba were really up to. Mayumi's personal opinion however, was that there was more to it than just an excuse. She felt a desire to know the truth about Tatsuya.

"For the sake of argument, let's say that you are correct and that Tatsuya is bound to us in some way. What concern is that of yours?" She swept her gaze over all of them as she made this statement.

No matter how politely Maya delivered this, everyone in the room understood the real question. Why are you meddling in my affairs? To which, no one had a quick reply. Except for Erica.

"Because he is our friend, that's why." Surprisingly, she said this without any excessive emotion. It was a simple statement of fact. Mayumi caught Katsuto's eye again and nodded ever so slightly, acknowledging the wisdom of his idea of bringing Erica along.

Maya's soft laugh at this was unexpected. "I apologize for my outburst. It's just that the notion of him being your friend is impossible." She laughed again at their bewildered expressions.

Then, all traces of her amusement gone, she continued. "He is not your friend."

"With all due respect, how can you say this?" Mari chimed in, clearly shocked at such a statement.

"You say you are his friends, but you don't really know the boy at all, do you?" She sighed before taking another sip of her tea. Mayumi thought that was a bit too theatrical.

"Let me enlighten you. Shiba Tatsuya was born with almost no magical talent. He struggled to do the simplest things. Before his birth it was hoped that he would become a successor, but it was agreed that with his meager talents that was not possible. Considering his lineage, we were quite surprised by this. My sister and I felt we had no choice but to put the poor child with one of our branch families where he could perhaps be useful."

"You mean you would shuffle him off somewhere away from his family and avoid any embarrassment," Erica offered with some heat. The older woman stared hard at her, but Erica, bless her heart, did not flinch.

Maya had that uncomfortable look on her face again before answering. "That is a crude way to put it, Chiba-san, but, yes, you could look at it that way, I suppose.

"However, my sister and I came up with an alternate idea. If Tatsuya wasn't born a strong magician, we could make him into one."

"How?" Mayumi desperately wanted to know, but at the same time dreaded finding how.

"My late sister's talent was Mental Interference. She was quite adept at it."

Everyone's mouth was left hanging open at this point. They all understood what Maya was insinuating. They had invaded Tatsuya's mind and manipulated it. Even in this advanced age, no one really knew how a person's mind actually worked to any great degree. In school, they had all read the story of Frankenstein by the English writer Mary Shelley. While this wasn't exactly the same thing, it sounded eerily similar.

Through clenched teeth, Erica asked, "How old was Tatsuya when you did this?"

"He was five years old. It took months to complete the work."

How could they do that to a child? Mayumi's heart clenched at the thought. That was monstrous!

"It's against the laws of this nation to experiment on people." Katsuto finally found his voice.

"Is that so? And the Jyumanji family has never broken the law? Are you sure? I could get you a printout of your family's most recent transgressions if you'd care to wait a few moments." Katsuto gritted his teeth, but remained silent.

"We carved out an area in his mind for magic, hoping that we could make up for his deficiencies. Alas, we failed to make him into a fitting magician. His manipulation of psions was increased, but he was still unable to competently do what is commonly considered 'magic'. It was quite frustrating."

She took another sip of tea before continuing. "However, with his newly enhanced talents, it was decided that Tatsuya may be suited to serve as a Guardian for his sister. We were pleasantly surprised to find that he had an aptitude for combat, as I am sure you are all aware.

"Of course, there were side effects. Creating that space in his mind required the, ah, removal of other things. We had to remove his stronger emotions. He is no longer capable of love or hate or greed or jealousy. The only remaining emotion he has is the bond to his sister. That is the only true emotion he has. We retained that in order for him to fulfil the function to which he was needed.

"In a way, we have actually improved him."

She actually seemed proud of what she had done!

"So you see, he could not possibly be your friend. He doesn't have the capability for it. Everything he does is for the sake of Miyuki, including pretending to be your friend."

The room was silent for a moment while each of them tried in their own way to digest this shocking news. In that moment, however, the door burst open, and a clearly distraught Miyuki walked swiftly into the room.

"That is not true! Onii-sama is not heartless and he is their friend!"

Maya was not disturbed by Miyuki's intrusion or her outburst. She seemed to have expected it. "He is not your onii-sama! He's a soulless weapon your mother and I created to be your guardian. He is barely human anymore."

"I would marry him, if you approve."

The others in the room sucked in a breath and gaped at her, while Miyuki was looking daggers at her, but Mayumi would not remove her gaze from the woman on the couch. To be honest, no one in the room was more astonished by her declaration than Mayumi herself. Logically, it made sense, just for the ties between the families that would result from such a union. Deep inside her somewhere, this decision felt right too for some reason. It was proof that she still saw Tatsuya as a person. As someone who could love and be loved. However, somewhere between her heart and her gut was a voice inside yelling _Have you lost your mind?_ For some reason, that inner voice sounded very much like Mari.

Miyuki opened her mouth to object, but before she could Maya turned to address her. "Upon his marriage, I will re-instate Tatsuya into the family." The reaction in the rest of the room was muted. That news didn't mean very much to them. But it made Miyuki gasp in shock. Her dream had been exactly that. Bring Tatsuya back into the family. No longer treated like a second-class servant. No longer looked at with scorn, but with the respect that she believed with every fiber of her being that he deserved.

And here it was. With a catch. She had to accept that Tatsuya would wed that woman. That he would leave to be with her. That he would lay-

With that ugly thought, she pulled herself together. Did she not love her brother? Did she not want what was best for him? Who was she to stand in the way of him taking his rightful place in the family and in society? Could she be that selfish and ever look him in the eye again?

Her tears flowed freely, but other than that her face betrayed no emotion. Her gaze still locked with her aunt's, she bent her head in acceptance. Her pain was deep and growing, but she could not deny her brother his place out of a selfish desire to keep him with her.

"That won't be necessary." Kudou Retsu strode into the room, followed by Major Kazuma, with a very flustered Hayama trailing both of them.

Mayumi watched as Maya's lips thinned and her eyes narrowed. She understood what the woman's plan was now. It was to separate Tatsuya from his friends. She just didn't understand why she would want such a thing. Did she hate her nephew that much, or was something else going on? What she clearly saw was that Kudou and the Major's entrance was completely unexpected. And completely unwelcome in Maya's eyes.

"Welcome, gentlemen. We are currently in a meeting, but I would be glad to hear your news at a later time."

The two men in question were having none of that. It was Kudou who spoke first.

"Maya-san, we apologize for the discourteous interruption, but we have some news I think pertinent to your discussion. Major, if you please?"

The Major stepped forward and came to parade rest, his feet shoulder-width apart and his hands clasped in front of him. In uniform, as always.

"Please be advised," his eyes met each of the others in the room, "this is classified information and the JSDF requests that this information not leave this room."

They had all heard this speech before in Yokohama when they found out that Tatsuya was a Special Lieutenant with the JSDF. That had been a shocking revelation. What news could possibly equal that?

Kazama's gaze held Maya's. "Tatsuya has been officially designated as a Strategic Class Magician for this nation."

"However," the Major spared a kindly glance at the still clearly upset Miyuki, "it has been decided that Tatsuya will not be uprooted from his current lifestyle and will remain with Miyuki to continue his task as her Guardian." Kudou's lips thinned on hearing that last part. He still felt that leaving Tatsuya as a Guardian was a waste of the boy's talent, but the important thing right now was to negate Maya's plans, so he swallowed his misgivings.

Miyuki wanted to hug the Major, but her breeding kept her from doing so. She wanted to thank him, and she wanted to thank her brother. She knew that it wasn't a coincidence that these men were here. Miyuki had heard about this meeting and she had informed onii-sama. She knew this was all his doing. He had out-maneuvered their Aunt, which was something rarely done, and she had never been more proud of her brother.

Well, that was that and Maya knew it. The battle was lost. While his new designation would not be made public, the JSDF had, in effect, 'claimed' Tatsuya as one of their own, and he would no longer be under the jurisdiction of the Yotsuba family.

"That concludes our business, I believe. Hayama, please escort our guests out at their convenience." With that, she left the room, presumably to verify this information with her other sources, even though having come from Kudou and Kazama it was undoubtedly correct.

When the door closed behind her, Kudou looked at each of the magicians in the room. "Despite what you've heard, Tatsuya-kun can indeed care about his friends and I'm sure that the Major can attest to that." With that, he left the room.

The Major smiled at them and agreed. "Tatsuya-san has indeed been quite concerned about each of you and has expressed that concern to me on a number of occasions." Then he, too, left the room.

The young people in the room could think of nothing to say to each other at the moment, though each was sure they would be discussing this in depth someday. They, too, filed out of the room, followed by a relieved Hayama.

In the car on the way home, Mari commented, "Well, now you don't have to marry him, at least. I mean, I like the guy, but I can't imagine you marrying him. I don't know what in the world made you say what you did, but I'll bet you're relieved now."

"Yes, I must be relieved," Mayumi said absently, her face turned away so that her friend couldn't see her tears.


End file.
